Voyages Of Discovery - March/October 2008

[Goldryder]

Paul Sawtell from BBC Sussex would like to hear from you if you have been on a cruise or who about to cruise with VoD.

 

He needs to hear how/when you were told of the engine trouble with the ship. He also wants to see any letters you received from VoD regarding the engine problem causing itinerary changes. He would also like to hear your thoughts about how VoD has treated you too.....both pre and post cruise when you have enquired about the itinerary changes...did they tell you about the engine or did you have to mention it first before they admitted there was a problem???

 

Please send your experiences to....

 

paul.sawtell@bbc.co.uk

 

Or if you would prefer to write...

 

Paul Sawtell

Broadcast Journalist

BBC Southern Counties Radio

Broadcasting House,

40-42 Queen's Rd,

Brighton,

BN1 3XB

England

 

Please mark the envelope or subject line on email - 'DISCOVERY'

 

Would you also make sure that you give Paul your contact information too as he may wish to chat to you about your experiences.

 

He wants to build up as much information as he can from those who have been affected or could be affected by the engine problems aboard Discovery.

 

He would like copies of any letters that you may have received (DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS AS YOU MAY NEED THOSE IF YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE THINGS FURTHER VIA ABTA OR THROUGH LEGAL PROCEEDINGS).

 

So if you have been affected by this engine problem and your cruise was spoilt in any way by the problems, then please contact Paul.

 

If you have paid high surcharges or the surcharge was too high and it forced you to cancel the cruise, Paul would like to hear from you too.

 

Thanks everyone, hopefully Paul will have alot to read through. Do not worry if you do not get an immediate reply, Paul will need to read through everything first.

 

To Listen to the BBC Broadcasts....

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/

 

Click on 'Listen again' (halfway down the page on right hand side 'Southern Counties Radio).

 

Sussex Breakfast with Neil Pringle

 

There are two individual broadcasts, the second has a lawyer from Which?....0730 and 0810am today.

 

The broadcasts are available for the next 7 days.

 

(I cannot tell if it works as I have no sound on my pooter, sorry :o )

 

All letters & emails have been handed to the consumer organisation Which who are apparently looking into what happened further, all subsequent letters and emails will be passed over to the organisation too. Paul is also tracking the ship as best he can and is going to continue to build evidence from everyone affected with an idea to make follow-up broadcasts.

 

Those passengers who had cruises ruined by missed ports or cancellations have a reasonable chance of getting a full refund, especially if the can prove the problem was long standing and that the company said nothing til it was too late. Which have also suggested that if the cruises were paid by credit card, you could approach the credit card company and let them know what happened and see if you can be refunded using their insurance.

 

If anyone does decide that they want to go that way, please feel free to use any evidence in the broadcasts (record them if possible as it will only be available til next Thursday) to assist in legal action you may wish to take.

 

It is pretty obvious that David Yellow will not step up to the plate and take responsibility over what has happened this summer. Legal action maybe the only way to get this sorted. Which have a legal section, they can advise you...I am not sure if they can do something along the lines of a class action against VoD, but it might be something to look into.

 

As I have said before, it was not my intention to bring this much trouble onto VoD when I first reported the engine fault back in May...but as the time went on it became obvious that all was not well within the shoreside operations. This could all have been easily avoided...as much as I hate to see a company fail, I feel that VoD management have brought it upon themselves when they deceived guests into booking cruises they knew that the ship was incapable of completling in the advertised form. We all know that no itinerary is ever set in stone, but what VoD have done this year has stretched that well beyond what is morally right.

 

My own personal view is that all of you who have had cruises ruined or altered so badly that given the choice and the knowledge that the engine was dead, you would have cancelled...well I think you should take it further and get legal advice with a view of a full refund and/or compensation.

 

Bottom line is that VoD knew the engine was duff and they knew the ship wasn't able to operate at full speed and they knew that itineraries could not be completed as per advertised/paid for. They are responsible for not providing the goods that you paid for and as a result they should give you your money back. They knew since March 2008 and didn't come clean til August and only when asked by the media, to this day they have refused to put anything on their website...not even 'I am sorry'.